Fred R. David, a business strategy author, defines strategy as the art and science of formulating, implementing, and evaluating cross functional decisions that enable an organization to achieve its objective, Strategic Management, Prentice-Hall (1985).

My definition of Web page strategy is the process by which to optimize your internet site to take advantage of the opportunities in the external environment, whilst addressing the threats that are likely to impact on it.

Formulating a internet site strategy is very important to the success of your internet address . By laying out your strategy at the beginning, even before choosing a domain title , can save many years, even years of redesign and wasted promotion efforts.

Even if your site is already established, there are a number of basics that absolutely need to be questioned to ensure you are heading in the right command . The answers to these questions will form the basis for your web develop strategy.

1) Firstly, what is the purpose of your website ? Is it a branding tool, a shopping cart to enable online sales, or both? What are your objectives?

2) Secondly, what are your strengths and weaknesses? if you we are in your visitors shoes, would you buy from the page and what would contruct you return?

3) Thirdly, how is your income going to be generated? Will it be from selling , from site membership fees, from affiliate programs, or from selling your own merchandise ? What are your capabilities and how will you use them to maintain a competitive advantage over your rivals?

The answers to the above will determine your content strategy and this in turn will have implications for all other aspects of your internet site developed .

1) THE PURPOSE OF YOUR SITE

Most web sites serve one main purpose - they are either informational or they are e-commerce sites.

Informational sites usually make their income from membership fees, marketing, commissions, or selling at the back finish .

E-commerce sites usually contruct their income by selling a merchandise or accomadation .

It is almost always difficult to combine both into the identical internet site because an informational page needs to provide unbiased data about the topic of the website, while an e-commerce address needs to contruct sales and use direct selling tactics.

The main objective of informational sites therefore needs to be to maximize your web site membership, or your subscriber list. Site usage could be regarded as the internets equivalent of intangible assets.

The more information the site gathers about its subscribers, the more valuable the list is because it allows selling to be clear-cut at distinct groups of people, clear-cut by where they live, how much they earn, whether they are male or female, etc… However it is also VERY important that any subscriber list is entirely opt-in because they want data from you.

Your objectives must therefore be: 1) Clear focused and defined 2) Measurable 3) Feasible and suitable for the industry you are focusing on.

2) IN YOUR VISITORS SHOES

Always put yourself in your website visitors shoes. If you were the web site visitor, what would keep you on the page . What makes your web page sticky?

By doing this you can easily identify your strengths and weaknesses!

The more focused your web address it, the more likely you are to satisfy your visitors requirements, and the more likely they are to return and make use of your internet site in future.

The layout and navigation of your web pages are going to affect the usability of your web address . It is very important to get these right and to understand which web technologies to make use of . Your web address layout and navigation can make or break your site.

Even more important is your Content strategy because you need to provide content that is likely to be specific at your visitors. Are you making available the content your visitors are looking for?

3) HOW YOUR INCOME IS GENERATED

Informational sites usually build their revenue from membership fees, selling , commissions from affiliate programs and building sales to their members or subscribers using off-the-web selling , for example through a news letter or direct mail. Selling is the secondary objective.

The main objective of an e-commerce site is to promote an successful marketing communication and to contruct the buying process as effortless as possible. Creating a advertising base is the secondary objective. They usually have two types of customers, transactional and relational.

The purchase decisions of transactional customers are influenced by short-term reasons such as price, convenience, and/or availability.

Relational customers have built up a relationship with the business usually through previous contact. Their purchase decisions are based more on the customer relationship that has been built up, quality of support, and acquired skill of the item or service or brand.

You need to identify where your sell is and what your capabilities are. You absolutely need to identify what gives you a competitive advantage over your rivals.

Once you have done that you will be able to generate qualified traffic, turn the traffic into qualified leads, and turn the leads into customers.

Your web site strategy is therefore critical to the success of your website . It must be focused, to ensure your site is visible and attracts qualified leads, and your web pages must be usable to ensure you may convert your traffic.

You can find out more about how to design a successful web page at http://www.thewebseye.com/web page-strategy.htm